""Why can't boys that go to Oxford in 1890 talk about potentially getting the ick?" asks Rob Madge, face and voice twinkling with mischief. As far as Madge is concerned, they absolutely can. The Coventry-born musical theatre actor and writer has brashly and boldly brought Charley's Aunt,Brandon Thomas's fabulously absurd 1892 farce play, hooting and hollering so far into the modern age that the addition of a little 2025 patter is child's play."
"We're meeting to talk about their adaptation, on stage at the Watermill Theatre in Newbury, in the regal setting of a games room in a London townhouse. Madge and the show's director Sophie Drake, who has worked with Ian McKellan and Imelda Staunton, are placed on chairs in the room's centre, like a two-person X Factor panel. The townhouse is Georgian, but all chat today is strictly Victorian."
"As far as farce goes, Charley's Aunt is as gargantuan as they come. It proved so immensely popular following its 1892 stage debut that it transferred the following year to The Globe, shattering the global record at the time for the longest-running play, racking up almost 1,500 performances. Numerous film, radio and multilingual stage adaptations have come since, proving its sticking power."
Rob Madge, a Coventry-born musical theatre actor and writer, adapts Charley's Aunt, Brandon Thomas's 1892 farce, updating dialogue and tone for modern audiences. The adaptation plays at the Watermill Theatre in Newbury, staged in a Georgian London townhouse games room with director Sophie Drake. The production preserves the play's outrageous premise: two Oxford students ask a male friend to impersonate a wealthy aunt, triggering cross-dressing confusion, romantic pursuit, and deception. Charley's Aunt achieved historic popularity after its 1892 debut, long-running West End success, and multiple film, radio, and stage adaptations, demonstrating enduring comic appeal.
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